The Flirtatious Period
by year of the fox
Summary: I looked up to him. "Why are you giving this to me?" He finally turned his eyes to me, but an annoyance accompanied his attention. -—-— The continued challenge of an IC Kaiba love story.
1. Going Back

**So there were requests for more Seto/Jem, and I went back to do a bit of rereading, and noticed there was kind of a huge jump from the end of _There Has to be More to It_ and _Seto's Silver Ace_, and I've missed writing about the two of them anyway. They're my favorite two to write about. So this will become the second fic in my series and _Seto's Silver Ace_ will become the third. I hope this comes as a pleasant surprise to those of you from before, and to any new people who may stumble across these fics and like them! Now there's going to be the tiniest bit of overlap in storyline between the end of the last fic and the beginning of this one, just so you all know. Enjoy and please give feedback, I love it!**

Jude awoke from where he slept in the extra room, and was disappointed to find that his sister no longer accompanied him. He gave a little stretch and yawn on the comfy couch, then rolled off and made a cat-like landing on his feet. He pocketed his hands in the sides of his open blazer, toying with how it caught and the tension of the fabric as he began to walk. Hating the silence, he began to whistle to himself instead of his usual singing.

When he stepped out of the room he stopped, looking both ways as though he had just happened upon a road. His twin was not to be seen in either direction, so he chose one and continued on. As he happily whistled to himself, he would stretch to peek in rooms that he passed, yet knowing it was unlikely that she would be in any of these in particular.

As he approached the ballroom, he saw the girl he had been avoiding ahead with some other guests who were leaving. Before she could spot him, he turned around swiftly and backtracked, thinking of what he would do now. He soon passed the room he had just been in and kept going, thinking he would check on a higher level.

Jude bounced up the stairs, hitting every other step, until he reached the first hallway. When he strolled by one room, he thought he spotted long silvery hair in the dark. When he stepped back to look again, he realized he did indeed see that, it just didn't belong to Jemmie, but instead their father. Though the room was dark, the moon illuminated the balcony outside. Pegasus stood out on the open balcony, alone, looking off toward the dark horizon.

Happening across him, Jude figured it couldn't hurt to ask him if he knew her whereabouts. Jude placed a hand on either side of the door frame, rocking forward.

"Hey, Pops?" he voiced. "Do you know where Jemmie is?"

"Your sister has run away again," Pegasus replied. He didn't look back at his son, clearly feeling somber about it.

Jude stopped with his rocking. He knew the two didn't get along, but he didn't know why Jem had to make their father so broken up about it. Even without that, she knew that her twin missed her dearly. But Jude knew that once Jemmie got an idea in her head, she was as stubborn as anything.

Outside, the third child was about to pass by unnoticed when she heard her father. Effie slowed and stopped to listen quietly from around the corner.

Effie knew that her father was upset—she knew him well. She was fed up with how she was always so sweet to her father, and Jem was horrible, but it still seemed he saw her elder sister in a higher light.

"You can't take it personally, Pops. It's just the way she is," Jude tried to comfort.

Pegasus smiled limply toward the horizon. He knew that Jude was wrong, but appreciated the sentiment. _Oh Judie, why couldn't your sister have been the optimist out of you two?_ "Thank you, my boy. Now go on, you should be getting to bed."

At this, Effie silently slipped away before she could be caught eavesdropping.

Jude hit the door gently with his fist. "Yeah, ok. Night, Pops," he said before backing away.

_Oh, Cecelia, you saw it before I did. You would have known how to handle this girl, wouldn't you?_ he asked. He recalled when his wife had first pointed it out to him...

~Pegasus' POV~

The afternoon light streamed through the windows of the tower, allowing me to see every detail of my beautiful wife. The sunlight gave the bricks behind her a warm hue. I studied all of this as I looked back and forth from the scene before me to my canvas.

My wife stared peacefully out the window, now in one of her better moments. We could hear the echo of our children's voices and laughter come from outside. They were down below, playing on a large balcony outside on the lovely day. This is what my wife was watching. Everything about this moment was perfect.

I dabbed the tiniest bit of a blue, pure as skies, on my brush. I used it to fill in the bright eyes my wife only shared with our Jemma. As I worked carefully, I heard gently, "Look at her."

"Hm?" I drew back, pulled from my focus to look at my wife. She still stared down at our children and I followed her gaze.

Our youngest, Effie, was trying to learn how to walk with the help of our children's nanny, Avery. My wife had selected the young man for them, saying he had a "caring-soul." He also had a degree in Child Development, and he was the one my wife wanted, so I agreed.

My boy sat on the ground, grasping different toys in each hand to knock together, seeming to be testing the different noises they made. He then dropped a block, seeming to discard it, but when it hit the ground he turned back to it, now interested. He dropped his other toy to favor the block, then dropped the block again. He seemed to like the sound it made, and picked the block up again to now throw it. Finding this delightful, Jude looked over. His twin was near him, working with the blocks to make a tower. He selected a block from her unused pile, and threw that one too.

Avery noticed this, and turned his attention from the baby to the boy. "Jude, no. We don't throw blocks." Jude ignored this and took another block from the pile and threw it. Avery got up at this, on his way to stop the block-thrower.

As soon as he stood, though, little Effie began to cry, hating that he was no longer giving her attention. He turned back to briefly assure her he would be back, but did not want to bring her over into the line of fire. This allowed my son to throw several more blocks.

I had thought that my wife had meant our youngest when she said 'her' since she was learning to walk and a very cute little one. But it was our quiet daughter that she was referring to. "I was talking to Avery, and he says Jemmea is remarkable for her age."

My little girl was ignoring everyone around her, focused on her tower. It was as tall as she was, and was not just one block on top of the other, but a sturdy three-dimensional structure. She noticed she had run out of blocks, so Jemma looked to see the cast off blocks her twin had thrown. As her sister continued to cry and Avery stopped Jude, she collected the blocks in her arm, going back to her tower. She reached up, her light blue dress lifting slightly with her arm as she carefully placed the blocks.

Seeing as Jemma had all the blocks, Avery finished with Jude and went back to comfort Effie. Jemma noticed him go back, then looked down at her brother next to her. Knowing that he wanted blocks to throw, she gave him one. Jude smiled and tossed it, and Avery shot back up to address the two.

~Back~

Pegasus continued to stare out after his Jemma. _Just who she is, hmm?_ he repeated to himself. Pegasus had known for a while that his older daughter was special, but he never knew how to foster it. He was always torn between reprimanding her and letting her do whatever she wanted, because when he tried to direct her, she grew bitter, but when he let her follow her passions, she had done some remarkable things. But now she seemed confused with no passions of her own, aside from her passionate bitterness towards her father. And he still didn't know what to do.

* * *

After Mokuba had fallen asleep, Jem had sat with him for a while, but he had started to get heavy and uncomfortable. Just as she had with her own brother, she guided him to rest on his own in the back. She used her freedom to sneak back up to the passenger seat.

She glanced over at Kaiba. He was still as ever, his eyes fixed ahead of them as he piloted the chopper. He never looked over to her. When she felt sure she was unnoticed, she turned to look ahead too, sinking in her chair and crossing her arms. No longer having Mokuba, she found herself feeling rather cold. A lot of her skin was unprotected in the strapless, silver dress her father had chosen.

Kaiba did notice as her hands ran up each arm and briefly glimpsed at her. Without a word, he leaned forward, pulling at the sleeves of his jacket as he continued to pilot.

It did not take him long to remove it. Once it was off, all he did was reach over and drop it over her armrest. Jem noticed and looked back at him, but only saw the same portrait as before, save one blazer. Without a word, she looked down at the jacket and graciously accepted it, laying it over her front to huddle under. It was still a ways back to Domino City, and she drifted in and out of sleep.

With nobody to witness it, Kaiba looked over at the girl. Her body was tilted to his side, her head resting on the same side. Her face was turned towards him, and it had a softened expression. He had never been so close to something he found so beautiful and fragile-looking before. Her eyes began to open, and Kaiba made sure to look ahead before she caught him.

When she saw the tiny lights up ahead, she stayed awake, even sitting up a bit in her seat. Kaiba noticed this. Without her knowing it, he kept track of her after that, discreetly watching her. He watched as a smile grew. She seemed more at peace the closer they got to those lights.

She sat up more in her seat as they entered the city. The jacket fell, folding in her lap as she leaned over to look down at the city below. But the city was starting to thin. It wasn't until the roof of a mansion opened up and they started to descend that Jem realized that he was not taking them to his company, but straight home.

The room they came to land in was bare and more garage-like. As the seams of the roof met, the lights in the room turned on.

Kaiba was quick to climb out, but Jem was unsure and in no such rush. She watched him go over and press a button on the wall, speaking into it. He then promptly returned to his side of the chopper. His body stretched as he opened the back door, a hand resting on either side of the frame. Mokuba slept through this, still comfy and worn in his seat.

He looked at her a moment, but she still didn't move, so he extended a hand to her. With this gesture, she understood. In the warm building, Jem slid from under the jacket as she rose. She had to bow to the low ceiling as she wove between the seats. Once she could, Jem accepted Seto's hand and he stepped back.

She clasped it harder, trying to keep her balance as she jumped. Seto watched to make sure she did not trip on her landing, but she was not quick to lessen her grip when both feet came to rest on the floor. Instead, she looked up at Seto and he, in turn, faced her.

"Seto, thank you. You'll never know what you've done for me."

He took another moment to look at her before he returned, "I think I have some idea."

Jem took a moment to stare back into his eyes. She wanted to kiss him again, but was not bold enough to do so. She wasn't sure if it had been a one-time thing.

Though the thought to kiss her had also crossed Seto's mind, he was still too distant from her to make such a move. Instead he simply told her, "I've sent for my driver to bring you home. It's been a long night and Mokuba still has a big day tomorrow." It took Jem a moment to realize that it was Christmas.

It was then that the sound of a car could be heard beyond one of the doors. Kaiba began to pull away at this, and Jem let him slip through her fingers. It wasn't until the moment was lost that she realized how much she had wanted one last kiss, but she repressed it, knowing better and being too shy to press.

"Come on," Seto directed, sounding harsh as usual. She allowed him to lead her to the door. Kaiba pushed it open, then looked at her. He used his long arm to hold the door open without ever passing through it.

"Well, thank you again," Jem expressed before she brushed past him.

His driver had gotten out to hold the door for her. Though he showed no signs of emotion, Kaiba watched her closely as she disappeared into the limo. He remained completely still until the tail lights disappeared from view. Still, she seemed to linger, and it was uncomfortable for him. He figured some rest would do him good—he couldn't think clearly right now.

With her gone, Kaiba turned back and the door fell heavy behind him. Still, Mokuba slept. Kaiba rested a hand over the helicopter door, using this as he leaned in to shake his brother from sleep.

Mokuba groaned, his eyes only slightly open as he sat up. Once they adjusted to the light, Mokuba opened them more and looked around.

"Where's Jem?" he asked.

Kaiba stood back to allow Mokuba out. The younger Kaiba climbed out groggily and began to walk with his brother.

"I sent her home," Kaiba stated.

After taking a moment to recall all that had happened, Mokuba commented, "She is really pretty, Seto. I'm guessing even you find her a little irresistible. In fact, with that complexion, I'm guessing you find her _especially_ desirable-"

"That's enough, Mokuba," Kaiba said, not wanting to hear it, and certainly not wanting to acknowledge it.

**Yay first chappie done! Now, when I wrote these before I had everything prewritten. This time I'm not as prepared, so I will not be updating everyday like I did before. If you're looking to read more, don't forget you can reread the other fics of the series, especially the first! I go back and change things a lot, most significantly in the first one their date, but you may pick up on foreshadowing I planted long ago and see the story in a new light as well. Hopefully this draws a lot of you back and some new people discover it. Please tell me what you're thinking!**


	2. Onwards

**I didn't forget, I just have a much busier life now. Again, this is now the second in my series. If you are not familiar, go back and read There Has to Be More to It. To everyone else, welcome back. I do hope you're enjoying this.**

~Jem's POV~

I clutched the strap of my bag as I nervously approached the school. It was the first day of the new semester, but that was not why I was nervous. It was the first day that I would have to face the school now that they knew my terrible secret. It was also the first day that I would see or speak to Seto since I had spent the night. And I would see him first.

A few classes lasted throughout the year, like science and math, but others, like English, were only semester classes, so my schedule had been slightly altered. Instead of starting the day with Mrs. Dobson, I now had a lab for my science class. I would start today with two full periods of Seto.

I still knew too little about him to know how he felt about me. I dared not read into it in case it was a one, or rather now, two-time thing. But I had never had feelings for anyone before. Never done anything like this. And I didn't know what to do. For now, all I could do was feel it out and not let my emotions get the best of me.

I pushed through those damned doors again and headed for the science wing. Our room had changed to a lab room since the class was no longer simply a lecture. I had arrived early today in an attempt to avoid more people, and my strategy seemed to have worked as I walked through the empty halls.

I found the lab room. Though no other students were there, I knew that I was in the right place as the teacher brushed his chalk along the board. I tried to go unnoticed, but he heard the click of my heels and turned to look.

"Miss Lee," he greeted to my relief, for though I would have preferred he not say anything at all, he at least addressed me the same. "How was your break?" he asked just as I reached my desired seat. In comparison to the room before, this would have been Seto's seat, all the way up front but off in the corner. Since I could claim being pushed aside more, I went for it. I didn't think he would mind, it seemed less important to him than it did to me.

I set my bag down next to the counter-desk with stools for two. "It was good," I chose, seeing the standard answer as the safest. Not that I would have cared to discuss my break anyway.

As I said this he was setting the chalk down and brushing a white streak over his pant leg. He turned to his counter-desk for modeling and displays, and seemingly for him also where he kept his papers. "You left a couple of days early and owe me a test." He began to flip through the sheets, looking up to me. "Are you up to it now? You won't have as much time as the rest of the class, but I'm guessing you won't need it should you choose to do it now. Otherwise we'll decide on a make up date."

I shrugged. "Now is fine," I answered gingerly.

"Excellent," he responded, finding the test and coming to drop it on my desk. He turned around swiftly to return to his board and I dug a pencil out from my bag.

Name: Jemmea Lee, I reinforced before working through the pages.

I finished about ten minutes before the bell, quietly going to drop it on his pile of papers. Then I simply went with my original plan, pulling out my book while I waited for class to start.

Once the bell rang, the others began to come in. One of the first was a boy who sat in the same seat as me at the other front counter-desk. He set an arm on the counter and leaned forward, and I could feel him looking at me. It was only made that much worse when I heard him say, "Pssst. Hey, Pegasus." My eyes shot up at this, but I did not turn or acknowledge him.

His words were not taunting, but friendly—as if now that he knew my secret it made us friends. Perhaps thinking I had not heard him, he tried again: "Hey, Pegasus, where have you been?"

My stress levels rose with his persistence. Just as I started to try to figure out what to do about this, I heard a heavy thud next to me. The shiny silver in my peripheral made me brave enough to look.

As I suspected, it was Seto.

He had set his briefcase down more forcefully than was necessary, and he set it in a way that blocked me from view of this boy as much as it could. I turned my head slightly to look at Seto. His cold eyes were on the boy, who eased back with this notion. Again, I felt safe.

Having successfully gotten the boy to back off, Seto flipped his briefcase to rest on its side as he settled down into his seat.

Not wanting to make anything more of this, I turned back to my book as if nothing had happened. Once the second bell rang, I stooped down to trade my literature for my notebook.

Class resumed as though nothing had happened. It wasn't until the bell finally rang that Seto said something to me, only to disguise it in the rustle of the class.

"Are you free tonight?" he asked.

I was taken aback and didn't answer.

He must have been pressed for time because he added, "Never mind, I'll ask you at lunch."

* * *

Seto's comment made my third period class almost unbearable as I watched the minutes creep by. I couldn't stop thinking about what he might want to ask me. Did he want to spend time with me? I mean, what else could it be? Fuck, could he want to ask me about my father? After some time of worrying, the bell rang and I was quick to collect my things.

When I opened the big double doors, I saw that he had beaten me. He was one of few in the cafeteria. He sat, as always, working away. He faced the wall of windows, mostly providing a view of shrubbery, but allowing several rays of sunlight to sneak through and fall upon him.

I felt a fluttering in my stomach when I saw him. _This feeling, this must be what they mean by butterflies._ I had read of butterflies before, but it wasn't until that moment that I understood what it meant. _  
_

I tried to sit quietly, still observing him. I knew he would say something to me when he was ready, and I didn't want to interrupt his work. So I took out my book, and I read.

After a few minutes, without acknowledging me otherwise, he said, "I want you to come by my office tonight at 8:30." It was stern. Before he had asked me if I was free, now it had changed to more of a demand.

"Yeah, I can do that," I replied, looking to him. He was so intent on his work, and I watched him, feeling unnoticed. Then briefly, I saw his eyes flash over to me. When he saw I was looking, they dashed back to the screen, seeming to deny they had ever left.

* * *

~Seto's POV~

The new semester was annoying with classes switching and starting, and I more than expected this next class to be annoying. It was Language Arts, the most annoying class of all because of all the frivolous things I had to read and respond to. It was a waste of my time.

I entered the standard classroom, consisting of rows of desks and walls that were haphazardly covered. The lights were off, but the windows provided more than enough light. And then, there she was again. She sat in the back corner of the classroom, immersed in her book as usual. The sunlight streamed over her, brightening her features. I paused, not expecting to see her again, then caught myself and continued as if nothing had happened.

I did continue to the back though, and had a moment where I considered where I wanted to sit. My first thought was next to her, as I could tolerate her and liked looking at her. At the same time, she was a distraction. I considered separating us by a seat, but that gave another the opportunity to get between Jem and me. I didn't like that.

She didn't notice as I took my seat beside her, and that was fine. I didn't need her to. I had not chosen this seat because I wanted to interact with her, but rather to keep her nearby.

This is something I had considered since my return from Duelist Kingdom. I had saved her, only to pay off a debt, but still. It wasn't a relief to be done with it. In fact I didn't want to stop. I wanted to keep her close, and keep her from Pegasus. That bastard would not give up so easily. Because of this I would need to take precautions.

The bell rang and the rustle began to settle. Jem lingered in her book just a moment, no doubt racing to the end of a line. Then she marked it and closed it, twisting down familiarly to dig out her notebook and stow away her literature. I kept her in my peripheral, as usual. When she was down reaching into her bag, she noticed my silver briefcase and lifted her head just a bit more. Knowing her, she had done her best to ignore whomever had come to sit next to her, but now noticed an identifying factor in the mess of uniforms.

Nothing was made of it though, and she sat up. From there, I narrowed my focus to my most important tasks. I would see her later.

**Any guesses as to what he wants from her?**


	3. Protection

Jem looked up at the building almost as nervous as her first time. She stood in the cool winter air of the city, wrapped in a long, dark blue and double-breasted winter coat that traced her figure. After a weary sigh, she walked in.

She approached the same receptionist as before, who did not spot her until she was right there. When the receptionist noticed the blonde she was taken aback. She remembered Jem, but for the life of her could not figure out why this girl was here _again_. More so than that, she still couldn't figure out why Seto Kaiba attended to her personally. It was this same shock and confusion that made Jem memorable.

"Welcome to Kaiba Corp. What can I help you with? You're not here to see Mr. Kaiba, are you?" the receptionist couldn't help but ask from the safety of her high round desk.

"I am. He asked me to stop by at 8:30, so I'm not sure if I have an appointment or not," replied Jem.

The receptionist looked at her skeptically before she turned away. "It's Ruby, right?"

Jem gave her a look of disgust. "It's Jemmea, but Seto addresses me as Jem, so it may come up as that."

_She called him Seto?_ the receptionist thought just before she found 'Jem' on her spreadsheet for 8:30. _And he with a nick name for her? _

She raised an eyebrow and called up. Finally, the click accompanying, "Mr. Kaiba will see you now." Jem didn't wait for another word.

Once the elevator doors closed around the blonde, the receptionist turned in her chair to her co-worker, the second receptionist behind the desk. "Did you catch any of that?"

"Yeah," the second responded, staring after the girl a moment longer. "What could her business with Mr. Kaiba be?"

The first had a thought as she turned back. "He made her, she's one of his creations," she declared, again occupying herself with the screen. "That's the only explanation."

"It's certainly possible," chimed the second. "If Seto Kaiba designed a girl, that's exactly what I would expect her to look like." She made a final remark before she too turned back to her screen. "Whatever she is, I hope she makes him happy. I've dreamt before about how much nicer our lives would be if Mr. Kaiba found a girl."

"Amen to that, sister."

~Jem's POV~

I brought myself close to his door, lowering my head to listen for just a moment before I rapped my knuckles.

Then came the familiar gruff response, muffled through the thick door. "Come in."

I used all my weight to push open the door. The office was dark, Seto only needing the glow from his screen for light. I saw those city lights again, illuminating the cold city behind him. The light from the hall followed me in, and this pulled his attention, but only briefly before his eyes turned to the screen.

"You wanted to see me?" was all I knew to say.

"I have something for you." The way he said it almost made it seem like he was correcting me. I was perplexed and approached him slowly, taking my time in the anticipation.

Seto picked up a small device next to his monitor and set it down again at the edge of his desk closest to me. I picked it up to examine it while he continued to preoccupy himself.

"Is this a phone?" I asked, confused.

"Mm," he replied.

I looked up to him. "Why are you giving this to me?"

He finally turned his eyes to me, but an annoyance accompanied his attention. "It will keep Pegasus from finding you. If you insist on staying in Domino, I'd prefer to keep that maniac out of my city. Should you need to call from another phone, there is a certain number code you can use. It's all in there." With this he returned to his work.

"I really appreciate this," I breathed. "You don't know what a relief this is."

"I do," he replied dryly.

I glanced over to see the screen I knew from class. Without meaning to, I hummed happily.

With that, he stopped completely and his eyes fixed on me.

"What?" he asked darkly.

"Just," I shook my head and quickly lowered my gaze, pocketing my new phone in preparation to flee. "Just you doing your thing..." I confessed to the floor. Hesitantly, I raised my eyes, and my eyes only, in the silence. He was still staring at me.

"Um..." Embarrassed, my eyes darted away. His gaze remained firm. "Was there anything else?"

"No," he replied, but he didn't sound as harsh this time. He was thinking, but that's all I could gather. Then he asked strictly, "Why did you hum? Why like that?"

I was taken aback. "I-" I shook my head, a little dumbstruck. "I mean I just told you..."

"You told me what you hummed at. You didn't tell me why you did it that way. Is there something amusing about this to you?"

"Amusing? No," I corrected quickly, seeing now how it may have offended him. But he now seemed more unsure than offended. "I just um," my eyes found the floor again. And then I somehow calmly confessed, "I just liked it." My eyes lifted to his.

I remembered our moments. And I desperately wanted another, but those time may have been over. That or the desk prevented something more that we both might have wanted. But as of right now, there was nothing more to do.

~Seto's POV~

I had been focusing on my work. I didn't know what else to do. My mind raced frantically, trying to figure out what it wanted. All I had ever known and wanted was being displaced by this girl. I didn't like it, but I wanted more of her. Her presence was entirely frustrating to me.

As if that wasn't enough. As if her standing there wasn't distracting, leaving me to wonder what she wore under her coat. As if the man in me wasn't longing to feel her against me once again. Then she hummed, that blissful hum...

"Well I suppose I should be getting home," she said.

I didn't respond, and with this she simply nodded and bowed out of my office. And still without another word from me.

Once the door closed behind her, I sat back, thinking. After a moment I reached out and placed a call.

"Roland, I need you to find out where a Jemmea Lee lives."

I hung up right after his swift, "Right away sir." If he could find her, Pegasus could.

**How's it going thus far?**


End file.
